1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wireless local area networks (LANs) and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for maintaining connectivity of nodes in a wireless LAN.
2. Description of the Related Art
Through the merging of computer and communications technology, computer networks have greatly enhanced the computing power available to the individual computer user linked to other computers in a network. Not only do networks provide for the exchange of information between autonomous computers, but they also enable each user or xe2x80x9cnodexe2x80x9d to share resources common to the entire network. Through resource sharing, all application programs, data bases and physical equipment in the network may be made available to any node without regard to the physical location of the resource or the user.
As for the linkage between nodes, there are generally two types of network interconnections. The nodes in a wired network communicate with each other by using transmission lines to carry the signals between the nodes. The nodes in a wireless network, on the other hand, communicate with each other using radio signals or other types of wireless links rather than physical interconnections.
One type of wireless network is a wireless local area network (LAN). A LAN is local in the sense that the transceiver nodes are located within a radius of only a few miles of each other. As such, the proximity of the nodes permits the network to operate reliably at low power and at high data rates.
Typically, nodes in a wireless LAN are mobile and transmit information in packets. These nodes, although mobile, may be geographically grouped at any given time into basic service areas (BSAs), otherwise referred to as xe2x80x9ccells.xe2x80x9d The nodes within a cell communicate with each other either directly or through a cell coordinator that relays messages among the nodes of the cell. The coordinator itself may be implemented either within a regular node or in a node that only performs the coordination function.
Communication between nodes in different BSAs is accomplished through an access point (AP), which is responsible for relaying packets into and out of the BSA. To allow for inter-cell communication, each cell must contain at least one AP. The coordinator and the AP are often implemented in the same node. Communication among the APs may take place over the same or different radio channels or via a separate wired network.
During node power-up, the node is assimilated into the network environment using what is known as the network xe2x80x9cself-organizationxe2x80x9d capability. During self-organization, each node is associated with a coordinator in a cell (if one exists), and in a multi-cell system each node is also associated with at least one AP in a cell. The association of a node with a particular AP may be based on criteria such as the quality of the link between the node and the AP, and the load carried by the AP. The self-organization procedure is considered complete when a node has acquired the parameters that will enable it to effectively communicate within the cell with peer nodes or relay points.
As conditions in the network environment vary, the network must be reconfigured to maintain connectivity between communicating nodes. This reconfiguration or topological change requires the reassociation of a node with another coordinator or another AP or both. The process of ceasing communications between a node and a coordinator or between a node and an access point and reassociating the node with another coordinator or access point is known as xe2x80x9chandoffxe2x80x9d. In a mobile telecommunications system, a handoff is typically required when a node has moved away from one AP towards another, either within a cell or across cells. Network reconfiguration may also arise as a result of a change in the quality of reception between a node and an AP, or because an AP has become overloaded.
In conventional cellular telephone systems, the handoff process is controlled solely by the base stations (corresponding to APs). Because the node does not participate at all (or participates only minimally) in the handoff process, cellular telephone systems require a considerable amount of cooperation among the base stations. This cooperation entails identifying those base stations that are in radio contact with the node as well as determining the most suitable new base stations. However, radio links are asymmetric, and the signal characteristics transmitted are not necessarily the same as those received. Thus, a base station cannot determine how well a node receives a signal transmitted by the base station based upon how well the base station receives a signal from the node. This phenomenon makes the base station selection even more complex.
Once the system is reconfigured, any messages destined for the node must be rerouted to the new base station. In a cellular telephone system, each node can conduct only one conversation at a time with another node in the network. In such a system, a conversation is routed through a series of switches located between the two nodes at the ends of the communication path. When one of those nodes is handed off to another base station, the path must be reconfigured, usually requiring that the message pass through a path consisting of a different set of switches.
Because each telephone in a cellular telephone system carries on only one conversation at a time, it is a relatively simple matter to reconfigure the entire communication path to hand off the telephone conversation. However, unlike a telephone unit in a cellular system, a node in a computer network communicates at high data rates and has the capability to carry on multiple conversations simultaneously with other nodes. The nodes in a computer network typically communicate via packets, wherein each packet may represent a portion of a conversation, and each such packet can be interleaved in any manner with other packets that contain portions of other conversations. Because of the large number of conversations carried on by a node, reconfiguration of all of the communication paths carrying those conversations is understandably a very complex process. Moreover, the fact that computers communicate in this manner renders the technique used by cellular telephone systems inadequate to accomplish the handoff of a computer node because of the inordinate amount of time that would be required to reconfigure the entire communication path to reroute all of these conversations.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wireless local area network (LAN) in which the node participates in the coordination of the handoff process.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a wireless LAN in which connectivity is maintained among users carrying on multiple conversations at high data rates.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for maintaining connectivity in a wireless LAN. The LAN is divided into a plurality of cells. Each cell is occupied by at least one access point for communicating information between the cells, and at least one node for communicating via the LAN through the access points.
To initiate a handoff from a first access point with which the node is currently communicating, the node first selects a second access point as a candidate for handoff. The node then communicates an instruction to the first access point instructing the first access point to relay a request to the second access point that the second access point accept a handoff of the node from the first access point. The first access point then relays the request directly to the second access point. In response, the second access point transmits its operating parameters to the node through the first access point, and the node adjusts its own parameters in response so as to establish communication between the node and the second access point, thereby accomplishing handoff.